The 2006 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters was the twentieth season of premier German touring car championship and also seventh season under the moniker of
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters since the series was resumed in 2000. The number of race weekends was reduced, from eleven in
2005, to ten for the 2006 season. Each track hosted one race, with the exception of
Hockenheim, which hosted two. As in 2005, each event consisted of one race of approximately one hour, with two compulsory pit stops for each car. The Championship was won by
Bernd Schneider driving an
AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse 2006 for the
HWA Team.
Team Rosberg returned to the series after one-year absence and thus switched to Audi Sport machinery.
Changes for 2006
Opel exited the series, leaving
Audi and
Mercedes as remaining manufacturers. Audi and Mercedes respectively increased their number of entries from eight to ten cars each to fill up the four empty spots left by Opel.
Older 2004 models became cheaper, allowing privateer teams to buy them.
* Olivier Tielemans was replaced by Jeroen Bleekemolen
** Jeroen Bleekemolen was replaced by Nicolas Kiesa after problems between the team of Colin Kolles where he drove and the main sponsor of Bleekemolen
*** Nicolas Kiesa was replaced by Thed Björk after being injured in a motocross accident